The seven habits of highly effective people

THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE                                                                        Brought to you by FlyHeart 
   The remarkable thing was that almost all of the 800 who received the awards that year had 
produced as much per person in terms of volume and profit as the previous year's 40.    The spirit of 
win-win had significantly increased the number of golden eggs and had fed the goose as well, releasing 
enormous human energy and talent.  The resulting synergy was astounding to almost everyone 
involved. 
   Competition has its place in the marketplace or against last year's performance -- perhaps even 
against another office or individual where there is no particular interdependence, no need to cooperate.   
But cooperation in the workplace is as important to free enterprise as competition in the marketplace.   
The spirit of win-win cannot survive in an environment of competition and contests. 
      For win-win to work, the systems have to support it.    The training system, the planning system, the 
communication system, the budgeting system, the information system, the compensation system -- all 
have to be based on the principle of win-win. 
      I did some consulting for another company that wanted training for their people in human relations.   
The underlying assumption was that the problem was the people. 
   The president said, "Go into any store you want and see how they treat you.  They're just order 
takers.    They don't understand how to get close to the customers.    They don't know the product    and 
they don't have the knowledge and the skill in the sales process necessary to create a marriage between 
the product and the need." 
      So I went to the various stores.    And he was right.    But that still didn't answer the question in my 
mind: What caused the attitude? 
   "Look, we're on top of the problem," the president said.  "We have department heads out there 
setting a great example.  We've told them their job is two-thirds selling and one-third management, 
and they're outselling everybody.    We just want you to provide some training for the salespeople. 
      Those words raised a red flag.    "Let's get some more data," I said. 
      He didn't like that.    He "knew" what the problem was, and he wanted to get on with training.    But 
I persisted, and within two days we uncovered the real problem.    Because of the job definition and the 
compensation system, the managers were "creaming."  They'd stand behind the cash register and 
cream all the business during the slow times.    Half the time in retail is slow and the other half is frantic.   
So the managers would give all the dirty jobs -- inventory control, stock work, and cleaning -- to the 
salespeople.  And they would stand behind the registers and cream.  That's why the department 
heads were top in sales. 
      So we changed one system -- the compensation system -- and the problem was corrected overnight.   
We set up a system whereby the managers only made money when their salespeople made money.  
We overlapped the needs and goals of the managers with the needs and goals of the salespeople.    And 
the need for human-relations training suddenly disappeared.    The key was developing a true win-win 
reward system. 
   In another instance, I worked with a manager in a company that required formal performance 
evaluation.  He was frustrated over the evaluation rating he had given a particular manager.  "He 
deserved a three," he said, "but I had to give him a one" (which meant superior, promotable). 
      "What did you give him a one for?" I asked. 
      "He gets the numbers," was his reply. 
      "So why do you think he deserves a three?" 
      "It's the way he gets them.    He neglects people; he runs over them.    He's a troublemaker." 
      "It sounds like he's totally focused on P -- on production.    And that's what he's being rewarded for.   
But what would happen if you talked with him about the problem, if you helped him understand the 
importance of PC?" 
      He said he had done so, with no effect. 
 

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THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE                                                                        Brought to you by FlyHeart 
      "Then what if you set up a win-win contract with him where you both agreed that two-thirds of his 
compensation would come from P -- from numbers -- and the other one-third would come from PC -- 
how other people perceive him, what kind of leader, people builder, team builder he is?" 
      "Now that would get his attention," he replied. 
      So often the problem is in the system, not in the people.    If you put good people in bad systems, 
you get bad results.    You have to water the flowers you want to grow. 
   As people really learn to Think Win-Win, they can set up the systems to create and reinforce it.  
They can transform unnecessarily competitive situations to cooperative ones and can powerfully impact 
their effectiveness by building both P and PC. 
      In business, executives can align their systems to create teams of highly productive people working 
together to compete against external standards of performance.  In education, teachers can set up 
grading systems based on an individual's performance in the context of agreed-upon criteria and can 
encourage students to cooperate in productive ways to help each other learn and achieve.    In families, 
parents can shift the focus from competition with each other to cooperation.  In activities such as 
bowling, for example, they can keep a family score and try to beat a previous one.    They can set up 
home responsibilities with Win-Win Agreements that eliminate constant nagging and enable parents to 
do the things only they can do. 
      A friend once shared with me a cartoon he'd seen of two children talking to each other.    "If mommy 
doesn't get us up soon," one was saying, "we're going to be late for school."  These words brought 
forcibly to his attention the nature of the problems created when families are not organized on a 
responsible win-win basis. 
      Win-win puts the responsibility on the individual for accomplishing specified results within clear 
guidelines and available resources.    It makes a person accountable to perform and evaluate the results 
and provides consequences as a natural result of performance.  And win-win systems create the 
environment which supports and reinforces the Win-Win Agreements.